While Oregon struggles to have enough personal protective equipment for its healthcare workers, a not-so-small movement of Eugene residents has made over 19,000 homemade masks for healthcare workers by themselves.
Holly Moline Simons and her husband, Cary Simons, started a Facebook group called “The Seamsters” back in March. They both have a hobby of sewing and when Cary, who works at a local hospital, saw that there was a shortage of N95 masks they decided to start making their own.
“And then in an offhand comment he said, ‘Let’s create a Facebook group. We can just share it with a few friends,’” Moline Simons said. “And as I was creating the group, he said, “Just make it public, it’ll be easier for people to share.” And within 24 hours, we had 800 members. By the following week, we had 1,400, and now we’re at about 2,300 members of the group.”
Moline Simons estimates that about 60% of the group helps in the mask-making process. People can sew, cut fabric and iron, but they can also help by driving and delivering materials or phone banking to get fabric donations.
Jan Jamieson, a moderator for The Seamsters, said she wanted to help so much she taught herself to sew through Youtube videos.
“The weekend that The Seamsters was created, I taught myself how to sew on my mom’s 1954 Singer featherweight sewing machine,” Jamieson said. “But, you know, that’s not an unusual story. I’m reading people’s posts all the time that this is the first thing that they’ve ever sewn, and they want to feel like they can help.”
Some University of Oregon students are a part of this group, mostly volunteering as pickup and delivery drivers. The UO Office of Sustainability has been a partner with the group and has been providing volunteers and staff. Its website has further information on how people can help.
Simons said that over 19,000 masks have been made, but they still have 13,800 requests from healthcare providers. The group has yet to reach out to providers to tell them about the masks.
“The reason we chose to focus on healthcare providers is that the rate of infection for healthcare providers is about 40% higher than any other group,” Simons said. ”Even grocery store workers.”
Wearing a mask, even if it isn’t an official medical mask, is still a good idea for those going out in public. There are multiple reasons to wear it, according to the Lane County website. The main reason is that someone may not be presenting symptoms yet but are still infections, but it also stops people from touching their face and it reduces stigma for those who are sick and need to wear a mask.
Simons says the group has partnered with Marley’s Monsters, a Eugene-based, eco-friendly fabric and wood store, which has donated 60 bolts of fabric as well as extra unusable fabric. Simons said The Seamsters have also partnered with the Oregon Nurses Association to help expand their network of healthcare providers.
Correction: This story was updated on April 30, 2020 to reflect that The Seamsters group has partnered with the University of Oregon Office of Sustainability, not the Sustainability Center. In addition to its volunteer and staff support, the Office of Sustainability has provided software and logistics support for the group, as well as other partners the Oregon Nurses Association and the Emerald Valley Quilters, according to Briana Meier with the Office of Sustainability. The four groups are “working together to coordinate efforts,” Meier said.